Chapel of Bones

We had booked on to an optional extra tour to Evora, which is a town about 140 kilometres east of Lisbon. It was advertised as a tour with a wine tasting session and I have to say that as wine tastings go, this was a particularly good one.

It was to a vineyard called Ervideira, and it might have been the beautiful location in the middle of the vineyards, or just the atmosphere, but I think that they were the best wines that I have ever tasted.

However, by far the most interesting part of the day was not really mentioned on the itinerary. It was to the Chapel of Bones.

I was so shocked that I only took this one photo and then wandered around in a daze.

The Chapel is part of a large and magnificent convent and church of San Francisco in Evora, and the Chapel was built in the 17th century. 

It was a large and pleasant looking building, until you looked at it more closely.

Skulls and bones covered all of the walls, pillars and were decorations on the ceiling. They were brought from 44 local graveyards that were associated with the Convent.

Apparently the style was popular at the time and was built 'in order to encourage reflection on the transitory nature of human life and the consequent commitment to living a constant Christian life'.

I am shocked all over again writing this, so will stop now, apart from one final thing.

Our guide says that there is a quote written over the doorway that is translated to something like 'those of us that are already here await you'.

Douro Valley

Today was quite a long driving day as went inland to see where the grapes were grown for the famous port wine.

It is extremely picturesque, and at our lunch stop our guide told us to look at the top of a hill to see a man in a black cape.

She said that it was one of the best advertising symbols in Portugal and they call him 'the man in the black cape'. 

I thought that they could have done better than that and called him 'Gerald', or something similar, but he is the mascot for Sandeman port, and we went to his vineyards.

They were on the steep hillsides on both banks of the Douro river and it was very scenic.

Of course we had another tasting session, then it was goodbye to Gerald and back on the road home.

Porto

We arrived at Porto last night, and had a full day today to explore. We started off with a walking tour of the old town with our guide Maurina. Unfortunately, she has a knack of making everywhere seem very dull and boring, whilst walking very slowly and frequently repeating herself.

She took us to a railway station to enjoy the tiles, and then down a street called Flower Street, but then explained that nowadays the locals don't bother to grow flowers in their large window boxes.

We were feeling a bit underwhelmed, but then we got to the harbour for a boat trip.

This was nice and we cruised up and down the river for an hour enjoying the sights.

Then it got much more interesting as we went on a tour of a port wine warehouse called Calem. This is the biggest Portuguese port producer, and they store it enormous oak barrels.

The one that I am standing in front of had enough port in it to fill 17,235 full sized bottles, and it appeared to have a tap on the front. Fortunately I didn't l turn it, although I was tempted.

Then we had a tasting, and it was absolutely lovely. On the way out we bought a bottle and admired the boats bobbing about on the waterfront.

In the olden days the barrels of port used to be floated down the river to the warehouses, but nowadays they just use big lorries.

On the way back to the hotel we did our own walking tour and walked across this amazing bridge on the low level, then climbed dozens of steps,then walked back on the high route with brilliant views.

Tomar and Coimbra

Last night we stayed in a very pretty town called Tomar. It is famous for a monestary on the top of the hill, although this is the nearest that we got to it.

What interested me more was a thing called the Festival of the Trays that takes place every four years, and of course, not while we were there.

As part of the festival ladies carry a basket filled with loaves of bread and flowers on their heads. Strangely, the rule is that the basket has to be piled as high as the ladies are tall.

Being on the tall side myself, and standing next to one of the baskets I have the horrible feeling that the crown on the top doesn't count, and that it would need a lot of extra bread and flowers if I was to wear it.

We found some nice artwork to show how it should look, and I got slightly in the spirit of it with my backpack on my head.

We had a good nosey around the town and saw a lovely square,

and interesting working waterwheel.

After joining our fellow bus travellers we drove further north to Coimbra. In the spirit of the day we also didn't visit the most famous sight in Coimbra. The attraction is a library inside the university of Coimbra, also on the top of a hill.  However, we did actually get to see the outside of some of it's impressive buildings.

Firstly though, we stopped for a coffee in an ancient square with a gorgeous convent building as a backdrop, 

and then set off up the extremely steep walk up to the university.

I have gone a bit out of order as I have already used the University photo, but after reaching the top there was a good botanic garden to visit that stretched all the way back down the hill on the other side. 

Part of it was a bamboo forest, and then across the road by a river was my favourite thing, a giant grassy teddy bear.

Who knows why it was there, or why it had it's back to a pedestrian bridge with stained glass sides.

Obidos and Nazaré

It's been a long time since my last blog, but here we are in Portugal on a bus trip northwards from Lisbon.

First stop is the beautiful village of Obidos.

It's very unusual as the village is completely surrounded by a huge castle wall.

There is only one way in and out, guarded by a Brazilian busker who is there every day, and has chosen the busiest and most picturesque spot imaginable.

Our guide had told us that Obidos is famous for it's cherry liqueur, and that it is served in little cups made of chocolate.

Within seconds of arriving we had located a stall and paid a euro each for a piece of heaven. I was in such a rush that I forgot to take a photo. I think that I am out of practice with my blogging, or that's my excuse anyway, and I will do better next time.

Then we headed straight up towards the city wall.

Our guide had warned us that the wall was dangerous as it is very high and that there was no barriers on the inside.

She wasn't joking, although the views were well worth it, but it wasn't a relaxing stroll. We also didn't see anyone else from our tour group up there.

After a quick jaunt around the shops we just had time for another chocolate cherry drink and then back to the bus.

Onwards to Nazaré, a seaside town with a huge beach and lots of bars and cafes.

Just as we arrived we received a very alarming email about our potential house sale. So we didn't explore the town at all, but instead spent the whole time in a beach bar in the sunshine, drinking wine and working out how to answer lots of complicated and unnecessary questions.

The tiny red cross shows our location, it was a lovely spot, and by the time we left our problems didn't seem nearly as bad.

Then to what I had hoped would be the highlight of the whole holiday, although it was always going to be a gamble.

In the right weather conditions, Nazaré has some of the biggest surfing waves in the whole world. In fact our tour guide told us that the world record for the biggest wave ever surfed is 26 metres, and it happened here.

We walked through the giant arch towards the viewing area, and I did a surfing pose even though I have never actually surfed in my whole life.

We passed an interesting statue,

and then down towards the lighthouse where the crowds gather. Although not today.

I already knew the disappointing truth, that the surf wasn't up for us.

However, it was a lovely view, and the waves close to the shore were still pretty good.

24 hours in Battersea

The temperature was zero, but that didn't deter us as we hopped on our Bromptons and cycled to Bicester North station for the train to London.

Then we were back on the bikes and across London, through Hyde Park in brilliant sunshine, and on to our hotel in Battersea.

After a quick coffee to warm up we walked down to the Thames just as the sun was starting to set..

Turning to the right we saw the amazingly refurbished Battersea power station.

We had a quick wander around the inside and, met up with Susan and Paul who also had 24 hours in Battersea. Their itinerary was quite different to ours, but had a couple of similarities.

Then we went on to the tube for a journey to theatre land. We had tickets for the show Stranger Things, and Darren had watched all three series of the show on the TV.

I unfortunately had not, and Paul had just warned me that it might not be my cup of tea.He did give me some helpful hints to try to understand the show, and luckily did not warn me how long it would last.

By the end of the show it was obvious that 99% of the audience were fans of the TV show and had a lovely evening.  I gave it my best shot but it was very long, very loud and almost totally bamboozling, even taking into account Paul's help.

Saturday morning and off to the Battersea parkrun. Darren jogged there while I walked separately, arriving at the park nice and early. Hundreds of runners were warming up and I asked one of them where the start was.

She told me that she was meeting a friend at the bandstand and jogged off so I started to follow her, but then lost her. To cut a long story short, it turns out that there was two events at the park this morning, the parkrun and a half marathon. Of course I went to the wrong one, and by the time I found the parkrun I was right at the back and only just made the start.

Everyone else met up before the start, but at least I found them after the finish.

Then it was a brisk walk back to the hotel, a speedy cycle back to the station and the train home.